A Hypno's Progress
by sertainseeming
Summary: A Hypno sets out to battle, and win over the girl he loves. Complications ensue. Can he return to his home, or will he live, and fight, among humans forever? My first attempt at a fan fic, so any and all feedback is welcome (apologies, my summary skills need work). I've rated it M for language, violence, 'themes' and so on. As a heads-up, I'm using the cartoon as reference. Thanks.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Where I Screw Up

You know, we Hypno are not as bad as everyone makes out. We seem to have inadvertently picked up this reputation as monstrous, slightly perverted creatures who prey on unwary travelers, and I feel it is my duty, both to my species and the world at large, to dispel this myth and improve our standing a bit.

I see I haven't convinced you, allow me to explain myself a little better. It all started two weeks ago, and I can lay all the blame for my capture, at the lovely feet of a girl. Her name is Oneira, and she is the most beautiful Hypno in our tribe. I could rhapsodize about her all day, but I'll try and keep it brief, lest I float off on a dream and never get on with my story. Her mane is about waist length and pure white, like the snow I have seen in dreams. When she wakes up in the morning it sparkles with the dew. She's taller than most Hypnos, and finer boned, I swear there must be some Gardevoir in her ancestry. Her ears are pointier than anyone else's and her nose is as close to perfection as, I imagine, it is possible to get. And she's pink. She's the only shiny Hypno in the entire tribe. She could hypnotize someone just by walking past. She was even moderately attractive as a Drowzee, and that's saying something.

But from rhapsody back to reality, she's gorgeous, and I'm not. No, no don't rush in with transparently false compliments…

Hey, you could have at least tried! Oh, fine. I never got very tall, even after I evolved, and I lack the robust build of most of my kind. And, despite my best efforts, my mane is generally a tangled mess. I have a good profile, and rather elegant hands if I say so myself, but other than that there's not much that would attract a divine beauty like Oneira. But, ever resourceful, I had a plan.

You see there's a Hypno in our tribe named Yuxu, who used to have a trainer. He can't have been much of a battler because his trainer abandoned him and he (unfortunately) came back to our marsh. He spends most of his time flexing his muscles and monopolizing Oneira's attention with (probably exaggerated) stories of his battling days. And it's not just Oneira he mesmerizes with his stories- it's everyone. Even the other girls. Especially the girls. Girls are superficial. I'm _not_ jealous, who said I was?

Fine. It's true, I'm completely jealous. If my skin could turn green with envy it probably would have. But, as much as Yuxu is a boring, self-important blow hard, he did give me an idea. If manly stories of battling prowess are what reels in girls the real deal must be even more irresistible. All I had to do was find another Pokémon, battle him into a bloody pulp with Oneira watching and she was as good as mine. Easy. Simple. Foolproof. Could. Not. Fail.

You can see where this is going.

Even my numerous, loyal friends were convinced this was not a good idea. Friends. Friend. One. And he's a Drowzee. Too lazy to even evolve. His name is Lazlo. Yes, even the tribe's laziest adult tried really hard to talk me out of it. He actually broke a sweat he tried that hard.

"Give up man. It is never going to work. Never. Not in a million years."

"It will work. We Hypnos are known for our plotting skills. How could it possibly go wrong?"

"Ahh, how do I think thee will fail, let me count the ways… You've never battled before."

"I have."

"Falling out of a tree onto a Caterpie is not 'battling'. It _is_ disgusting though."

"I beat up that… Seviper."

"Sure you did… Hey, is that why you limped back to the marsh last week? I thought you must have just fallen out of another tree." He laughed. I detest people laughing at me, especially when they are right.

I changed tack, outrageous lies are not my forte "I know the odds aren't in my favor, but I have to do it. I love her. "

"What you are feeling is not love, my friend. Though I'm honestly surprised it took this long to kick in, how old are you? Twenty-five?"

"I, unlike your unevolved self, am not a slave to my baser urges. And twenty-three."

"No girl would touch you with a pendulum on a string a hundred feet long, is what you mean."

"Look, Oneira could have anyone she wants, but _my_ feelings for her are completely sincere, honorable and unselfish. I would make her happier than anyone else; love her from the depths of my heart. And this plan with demonstrate that admirably."

"Sounds like a sea monster… from the deeep. Where to you get this garbage? Which moron's dreams are you eating? And why Oneira? She's hot sure, but have you ever talked to her? She's a stuck-up bimbo. Let Yuxu have her."

"I can't get her out of my head. And I can sense that, deep down, she feels the same way. I just need to impress her and her feelings for me will become clear."

"You are so deluded that it's actually physically painful to observe. I think I sprained something just having this conversation."

"All you have to do is trick her into following you to where I'm bringing the pain."

"That managed to sound even wronger than what you're imagining will happen."

"Just get her to follow you, she trusts you."

"A trust I'm going to horribly betray by exposing her to your terminal stupidity."

"So, in other words, you'll help me."

So I had Lazlo on side. Now, before you assume that I'm crazy, or just extraordinarily stupid, I better explain what I thought was true about battling. I'd largely ignored Yuxu's stories. He himself didn't understand exactly what Pokéballs did, despite, apparently, having been inside one. He had assumed that when he wasn't battling he was blissfully asleep and dreaming, and that waking up right before a battle was just coincidental. I now, regrettably, know better. He had also, apparently, never come up against a Pokémon he was particularly weak against. Or if he had, he kept those stories to himself (I'd like to believe the latter). I wasn't so lucky. I also wasn't aware that you have to train to become more resistant to attacks. I believed what I imagine everyone in our tribe believes- that Hypno are just naturally superior to most Pokémon. I still believe that actually, but I know now that anything poisonous or fiery should be avoided at all costs.

I'd been keeping an eye on a gormless looking human trainer who'd been wandering our marsh for a few days. He was a strange, tall thin man in a long black coat, with a wide brimmed black hat that hid his face. He was alone, apart from a tired looking Ekans slithering along after him. Ekans are a common enough nuisance near our marsh. They are poisonous, in the unlikely event that they bite you, but we scare them away from camp with stones and I figured if all else failed I could just hypnotize it. They're foolish, cowardly creatures, no match for my advanced species.

I briefed Lazlo on my target, and he assured me he'd somehow get Oneira to follow him and bear witness to my battling prowess. I followed the trainer for a while, and, when he'd set up camp under a tree I made my move. I will impress this on you one final time- I was woefully rash, I had not thought this escapade through.

I slunk out from behind the tree, crackling leaves and sticks beneath my feet, not intending to be in any way stealthy. When the trainer whirled round to face me I began my chant and waved my pendulum, expecting to unnerve him (or even hypnotize him and save myself a heap of effort). He snapped his eyes closed, a smile curling his lips, and reached into his pocket- "GENGAR, HEX!"

Suddenly, I felt cold, like the sun had gone and all the warmth of the day had melted away, I started shivering, uncontrollably, and it was as if there were shadows everywhere, creeping up on me. I kept trying to see them by they'd be just out of my field of vision, my skin crawled. I kept trying to chant, the shadows seemed to recede a bit, and I thought I wasn't doing so badly.

"DARMANITAN TACKLE!"

Suddenly I was thrown across the ground, and something was pummeling me, I was still hazy from the hex attack and couldn't see anything other than two intense, blazing eyes boring into mine. Every blow it landed seemed to burn. The skin on my back and sides felt like it was boiling and splitting. I couldn't even hear what the trainer was shouting. Suddenly I was cold again, and the sky seemed to darken. I struggled to my feet, out of the corner of my eye I could see Lazlo and Oneira, cowering behind a tree. I tried to gather my senses and fight back, but it was as if I couldn't think, I just sort of stumbled around, I'd even lost my pendulum, so I couldn't even try to hypnotize my hidden assailant. I saw Lazlo push Oneira back and the tree in front of them crack open. Oneira bolted, disappearing into the forest, without a glance back. Lazlo seemed to want to follow her, but he stayed…

I was hurled back, all the breath knocked out of me. I couldn't even see what had hit me. My eyes didn't seem to focus as I tried to stand up again. The air seemed heavier, and I was sure I could hear some whispering, hazy sounds, all around…

Something was licking my skin. Amidst all the pain it actually felt nice, like my limbs were cooling, my eyes closing, I was going to sleep, certain I'd never need to wake up. "DARMANITAN, RAGE! INCINERATE!'

I think that's when I started screaming. I don't think I can even describe what awful sensations my body underwent, the thought makes me shiver. I could hear the trainer laughing, an eerie cold laughter, without mirth. At some point, surrounded by what felt like flames, with half my skin charring off, I looked up for the last time, and that damn Ekans bit me on the shoulder. I don't even think the trainer ordered it to. And then finally, mercifully, I fainted.

"You're awake?" Lazlo sounded more surprised than anything.

"How long have I been out for?"

"Days. I didn't…" his voice quavered, "I didn't think you were going to wake up again."

"Was it that bad?" I hadn't fully pieced together what had happened to me at that point, though my body's aches and pains were starting to make themselves known.

He looked down, "Yes. Even the guy he traded us to was pissed off."

"What?" My head span and I felt sick.

"If you're going to be sick again, could you go outside?"

"Again? Wait, traded us?"

"All you've done since they got you out of the Pokéball is shiver and vomit. Even the guy thought you were a goner. You've been sick almost constantly, so I've mostly slept outside. We got captured, which you probably don't remember, I thought you'd died by that point. We got brought here, for some sort of research. I was a freebie, which was kind of insulting. It hasn't been a lot of fun for me, is what I'm saying, and I mostly blame you and your stupid obsessions."

I finally looked around. We were inside some sort of rough wooden box. At first I thought it was a crate; then I noticed the little archway door. I'd seen these in a few dreams. I was in a kennel, how fucking degrading.

"So _where _are we? How far from the marsh?"

"I don't know. I don't even know how long we were in that ball for. I don't know where we are, or if we'll ever get to go home. Thanks a lot, thanks a fucking lot!" He looked genuinely wounded, like the full weight of our plight had only just settled. I looked away, ashamed.

"So, a research… place?"

"Why don't you go outside and look around?" he said testily "You haven't seen actual sunlight for a while."

I got up; the movement made a lot of my skin feel raw and painful. I tried not to wince.

Stooping to get out of the kennel, the sunlight blinded me. I staggered groggily forward, tipping over a little metal bowl filled with brown pellets.

"Great, that was our food for the day."

"_That_?" The stuff of dreams it was not.

I was in a garden. There was a neatly clipped yard, and a tall hedge running around the perimeter. A large red brick house, and, in the distance, snow capped mountains I didn't recognize from the skyline at home. I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach. How far away, in both space and time, was I from my marsh, and Oneira, and everything else I'd ever known?

Near the house two men and a woman sat at a table. Both men were wearing long white coats, the make of which I recognized; the significance of which I did not. The woman was obscured by the shadow of a large, colorful umbrella. One of the men pointed at me "It's awake, well I'll be damned!"

They continued to stare at me, conversing quietly. The woman gave them a condescending look, and walked quietly back into the house. I started shaking.

"Where are we, Lazlo?"

"I don't know. The younger guy is _the guy_, he bought us, I guess. It's his house. The other guy is his friend, or, I don't know, they work together. The woman is his mate. They have two children, a boy and a girl. I'm not sure where _they_ are now. There are a few other white coats who come over sometimes. And there are five Hypno here."

"Hypno? What tribe are they?" I didn't want to walk onto a hostile or unknown tribe's territory.

"They're all human raised Hypno. No tribe. It's actually hard to understand their dialect, and they have no manners."

I had never met a human raised Hypno; to be honest I rather pitied them, I'd been told they were hopelessly uncouth. I couldn't make much sense of any of this. Why would humans keep so many of my kind?

"Are they trainers here?"

"I don't think so. I don't know why we're here. They got us out of the Pokéball, and that trainer bargained with White-Coat. He didn't want to buy you, he thought you were too 'damaged'. The trainer gave me to him as a freebie, so he'd buy you." Lazlo sounded offended. "The White-Coats seem to collect Hypno. When the trainer left White-Coat's son said he should take you to a 'nurse', like a healer, I guess. He didn't want to. He told his son not to tell anyone about us. He just put us in that kennel. "

"Where are the other Hypno?"

"They live in the house. I've talked to them a few times. They're in the above level of the house. There's a lot of weird stuff up there. They attach _things_ to their heads."

"What does that do?" It all felt ominous.

"Search me. Those Hypno can eat dreams without being near anyone though. And they can read minds much more clearly than most people I know."

"They read _your_ mind?" I said incredulously. These human raised Hypno clearly had no sense of decorum- reading a human's mind or dreams is fine, or another Pokémon's, but penetrating the mind of one of your own kind? It was shameful, perverted.

Lazlo had registered my antipathy, "Look, they don't know any better. They were raised with _humans_. No-one's ever taught them how to behave like normal people. It's…_ sad_, almost."

"What are they going to do with us?"

"I said I don't know! I don't know what's going to happen to us, or what they'll do to us! I don't want to be stuck were with humans and a bunch of gibberish talking, pervert Hypno and _you_! I thought you had some idea of what you were doing, but oh no, your idiocy is apparently a solid mass just shaped like a Hypno, with neither beginning nor end, nor rhyme nor reason! And, you've inflicted your stupidity on Oneira! She's got much more to keep her awake at night now!"

"What do you mean?" I felt a chill down my spine.

"Well, while you were busy getting yourself roasted to a nice crispy texture, that sadist trainer saw her. I imagine he's going back there now to try and 'tame' her as we speak. He certainly described her in loving terms while he was busy selling us."

I couldn't meet his eyes, which he noticed. "You're a coward. And you always will be. Just leave me alone."

He wandered back inside our kennel, shoulders slumped. I needed something to distract me, from my now overpowering guilt. If we were going to be stuck with humans for the rest of our natural lives I may as well see what our new home was like. The sun was starting to go down.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Opening Doors

I walked around the yard, trying not to think. Every step seemed hard, my body ached, and trying to focus on anything distant made the bile rise in my stomach. But I strode on, trying to make each painful movement a penance of sorts, for the danger I'd inflicted on Lazlo and Oneira.

I was starving, I hadn't eaten a dream in days. Our kind can eat other things, like the contemptible pellets the humans had given us, but our real sustenance is drawn from dreams. Without them, though our bodies may not wither, our minds do. And, in my weakened state I needed real food. There were humans here, I wouldn't go hungry for long.

It circled the house a few times; it seemed to be miles from any other buildings. There was a road leading away from it, dusty and not often travelled, snaking down the hill.

I didn't like this place. Even with my limited understanding of human culture this didn't seem right. Human dreams were usually crowded affairs, Busy cities, lots of people. Not… this. I wanted to run down that road without a backwards glance, but I was apprehensive. I didn't know what, or who, was out there. I could go. There didn't seem to be anything keeping me in, but I was uncertain. Whenever it would actually be helpful, my ability to take decisive action seemed to fail me. Maybe I should wait, assess the situation… Frustrated, I walked back to the house.

It was dark now, and only a few of the house's lights were left on. It took me a few tries to get the door open. I know what doors look like, but who focuses on the mechanics of opening a door in their dreams? The house was warm. Nighttime in our marsh is usually cold, particularly if you're not mated and you sleep alone. I liked the warmth, but it felt claustrophobically closed in. There were human things everywhere. Some I recognized, and vaguely understood. Others, like the large humming box, were mysteries. The house felt oddly right to me. Everything was more or less designed for a being my height and size. I wandered through, as silent as possible, basking in the captured lights in each room.

As I went upstairs I could sense the humans by their dreams, which were oddly vivid. The boy of the household was deeply asleep, his dream was chaotically fast paced and colorful, and involved fairly prosaic scenes of him beating famous trainers in Pokémon battles. The teenage daughter's dream was similarly bland; she was dreaming about dancing with a famous singer whilst wearing a conspicuously fashionable outfit. I decided not to bother eating either. Why waste the effort on the equivalent of snacks? Whoever claimed children's dreams are 'tastier', hasn't been exposed to the dreary sameness of most of them. I could sense the adult male and his colleague dreaming in a room far from the others. They'd obviously worked themselves to exhaustion; their dreams were erratic, with no real content, just vague sensations and impressions, and a lot of stress. We feel what the dreamer feels, I had no desire to feel any more beaten down then I already did. The strange shallowness of their sleeping had the mark of one of my kind's interference. I supposed one of the captive Hypno had hypnotized them into a false sleep. The Hypno were present, but their minds were typically closed off, and I didn't want to become a pervert by eating the dreams of my brethren uninvited. That only left the woman.

Her room was at the furthest end of the hall, but the whole place was heavy with the atmosphere of her dreams. I slunk through the door of her room. We are soundless creatures, when hungry. Her room was all red. The walls, the bed sheets, even the lamp, it made the room seem smaller than it really was, constricted. She was facing away from me, but her long black hair draped over the edge of the bed, so she seemed very close.

Her dream was pretty erotic. I relaxed and started swallowing it, melting into her subconscious. It started with a lot of laughter, like there were a lot of humans together, outside on a sunny day. But there was only her, lying naked in a meadow, laughing. Her dream avatar's warm brown eyes met mine, which jolted me, the people in dreams usually seem very ephemeral, and, well, dream like. Not her, if this was her. The meadow was full of dewy bright green clover, and it was as if I could feel every separate leaf of it under my feet. It felt soft, warm and moist. The air in this dream felt like breath, in and out The dream avatar was stretching languorously on it, laughing and obviously enjoying the sensation. There was no hint of the usual embarrassment about nudity that follows humans into their dreams.

The scene seemed to shift gently, and I was inside, in a beautiful room where the woman's subconscious self was stirring some icing in a bowl. Human dreams about food are normally irritatingly hollow, boring visuals only, but once again, I could smell this stuff, feel the sensation of her movements on my skin, even vaguely taste it, and it was sweet, intoxicatingly so. She tasted it, and started smearing it on her body, and I enjoyed the spectacle, felt engaged by it, like I could sense her fingers on her own skin, and on mine. The scene shifted again. This was cruder. A human man and the woman, or, in truth, a more beautiful version of her, with pointed ears, engaged in rough copulation on the forest floor. Sunlight streamed through the trees, lighting drops of dew on leaves. I felt the skin of both of the humans as my own, smooth, humid, felt their bodies' connection, energy, felt it grow and grow and…

Suddenly the dream was gone. I was back in the woman's room. My back pressed against the door. Her deep brown eyes burned into mine. "Well, well," she said, mockingly "you're more able than I though." I felt a chill run down my spine. Humans aren't able to wake while we eat their dreams. This was abnormal, frightening. I felt uncomfortably vulnerable, trying to avoid her gaze. Her lips curled into a smirk. "Come here. I _know_ you can understand me." I crept over to the end of her bed, trying to keep my distance. "Closer!" I obeyed.

She stared at me, that half sneer never leaving her face. "I always thought you were such ugly creatures. But up close, your body is almost human. Well, human enough. Sit _down_." I did. She was almost exactly my height. Her body was fleshier, but her build slighter. I had seen humans naked in their dreams, but to see a real human body was different than I had expected. She was pale, and, looking at her skin, I realized I am covered with very fine fur, and she was basically hairless. It was uncanny to see the difference.

"Well, you know why I drew you here. And you can't say you weren't enjoying it." I cringed away. "Look at me! You stupid creatures have taken my husband under your spell, so you can be _my _research project." She laughed coolly. "Lie down." I stayed where I was, not sure what good it would do, but afraid to do as she demanded. Her face forced itself into a softer expression, but her voice didn't change "Come here. Nothing _unpleasant_ will happen to you. You will enjoy it, just like my dream." I did as I was told.

Her bed was very soft. Totally unlike any surface I'd ever felt. But my whole body was tensed, I couldn't imagine how this was going to go. Her whole body was hot, beaded with perspiration, her flesh was more yielding than mine, because dreams don't fatten you. I enjoyed the feeling, though I can't say her strange looking body engendered particular arousal in my own. She was composed of a lot of strange hills and valleys, the females of my kind are plateaus. It was only as she started to press her fingers across my chest and beyond, and her hair brushed softly on my skin, that my mind started to lose focus on the differences between us. She wasn't gentle with any part of me, I assume she thought my body was insensitive, but it wasn't. Every inch of my skin felt electrified, as though every slight touch was travelling through my skin, muscles and into my bones. Her skin had a fragrance, hard to describe, but pervasive, heavy. My mind seemed to disconnect from my body, and it was only when she jabbed her knee into my side that I regained my presence. "Stand up! From behind, like you animals do." It's not quite what I'm used to, as much as I can claim I'm used to this at all, I had some idea of what she met from human males and their fantasies. She jammed her elbow into my ribs. I got it right the second time. I felt my force grown, and my muscles contract. My eyes rolled back. Then release.

It only took a few seconds for the full bizarreness of what had just happened to hit me. I can never really lose myself in the moment, such is my curse. I looked at the naked alien in front of me, and wondered what had taken possession of me. My skin still felt achingly tingly, and I was sure if I shook my head a few times this whole tableaux would vanish, and I'd turn out to have been sleeping. But I felt good, refreshed, tired, but refreshed. She laughed at me, as I stood dazed in front of her. "Like hands, how strange!"

In the mirror behind me I could see her lying on the bed, and myself, and my back. On my flesh, angry twisted scar tissue, where my skin had melted on contact, were the impressions of two hands. I felt cold.

She couldn't seem to detect my distress and roughly told me to get out. In a daze, I went.

As I wandered down the hall, I struggled to think. No, not about why she'd desired me, human urges are so promiscuous, so indiscriminate. And honestly I didn't care. But what on Earth had _I_ been thinking?

I wanted to be among my own kind, even if they were strangers, and the uncouth by-products of human culture. The office where my _owner_ and his friend were 'sleeping' was right at the end of the hall, seemingly putting my brethren as far from the other humans as possible. The door was slightly ajar, and as I pushed it open the room's dim bluish glow fell on me. The two humans were slumped oven at a large table, surrounded by papers and files, none of which, of course, I could read. All along one wall were computer screens, blinking with reams of data. There was only one Hypno in the room, sprawled on top of a three filing tablets near a window. He was holding a pen and swinging his leg, a weirdly human looking pose.

"So, I see you've met Kaoru?" he smirked. His words were hard to make out, but the contempt in his voice would have been obvious to someone unconscious. "Wait ,wait! I'm seeing… " He held his hands up to his head "Clover leaves, icing. Ew, dirty. Ha ha ha."

"You read my mind!?" I was outraged.

"That, plus you _smell_ of human. Oh, I forgot, you're a swampie. My bad. But still, was that all it took to turn you into a degenerate? Icing? Let's see. Turn around."

I did before even thinking about it. "Wow, they really are disgusting. You're right, the pink girl will never want you now. Best stick to the humans."

"Stop it, you pervert!" I sounded more wounded than angry.

"Okay, I'm sure it won't be hard to get it all out of you anyway." He jumped down. I noticed with dejection that he was much taller and better looking than I am. "Come, sit with me."

He swept the papers off one end of the table and sat up, stretching his legs out. I tried to imitate the humans and sit on one of their chairs, but it felt awkward and foreign and I ended up sitting cross-legged on the floor.

"I am Traum, the answerer of your plaintive questions," he laughed haughtily "and the uncrowned king of this office. Tell me your troubles."

I told him what had happened, though the whole story hardly seemed to interest him.

"Well, a tragedy for the ages; my heart effing bleeds. But at least you've found your purpose in this house, which must be so_ fulfilling_."

I ignored his tone. "What is our purpose in this house?"

"You, entertainment. Me, mind control, you see those two?" He gestured to the sleeping men, "They're trying to create something big. A weapon of some sort. We're the inspiration. Our powers will soon be felt far and wide. Or at least, mine will be. Your powers will be limited to relieving boredom, I imagine." He wouldn't let it go.

"Who are they?"

"Tadao is your _paramour's _husband. Oh, sorry, _mate_, mustn't forget your roots. "

I looked over at the younger of the two humans, he had a kind face, but he looked exhausted and prematurely aged. "He's the brains behind this whole project, but it's cost him any semblance of a social life."

"And, Norio has even less of a personal life than him, and never leaves." The other man was older, paunchy and smug looking. "Despite that, he's the networker, the provider of money and contacts. All very hush hush."

"Why?"

"Who knows, who cares? They provide me with food and entertainment, and I provide them with ongoing trouble-shooting opportunities."

"What will they do with me?"

"Hook you up to a brain monitor, run a few tests. Why do you even trouble yourself by thinking about it? You're out of your swamp you hick, why do you think_ you_ can understand the humans or what they do? Just accept it, I always have." There was a cold viciousness in his voice and he said the last part. I was tired, worn down and confused.

"Sleep in the corner. I'll watch over you, keep them asleep. Enjoy being indoors." He sounded bitter, but it was the kindest thing anyone has said all day, so I curled up with my back against the wall and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. (Obviously)**

You're another person when you wake up, once you've been asleep for a few hours. The world keeps spinning, everything could change, a disaster could occur, but you stop being a part of it, for a while. It sounds obvious, but as someone who lives off of dreams, sleep, it never ceases to amaze me that this strange state exists. I can remember being frightened by human dreams I consumed when I was young. There is something in human dreams that is heavy, inescapable. Most of them don't feel happy; they are full of anger, fear, unfulfilled desire. I used to wonder how humans survived with all of that living in their heads all the time, and how we survived on a diet of it. When we eat one of their dreams, the human doesn't remember it, we take it away. I know that a lot of humans fear my kind. I wonder why?

It took me a while to remember where I was when I woke up, but seeing Traum sprawled across the table, idly tapping his foot and clicking a pen, brought it all distastefully back. I wondered if he'd slept at all. The human men were still asleep in what now looked like uncomfortable positions, but I could hear the sounds of people stirring in the other rooms, and I wanted to get away before any of them saw me. Traum winked at me as I crept out.

I made it downstairs apparently undetected. As soon as I got outside the cool morning air hit me and I felt pity for Lazlo, who I supposed had slept in the kennel. I hid behind the yard's only tree and watched the house.

The human boy and girl got ready with enough commotion and argument that I could hear it outside. The pauses between their bickering seemed to mark the woman, Kaoru's, interjections, but her voice was too quiet to hear. The three of them eventually left the house and headed to the smaller of the two parked cars. Kaoru scanned the yard as her boisterous offspring settled themselves in their seats, the daughter turning some music on as she shut the car door. I wondered if she was looking for me. They left.

I spent the rest of the day sitting under or pacing near that tree, alone except for my worries and wants. I couldn't fully comprehend what I'd done, with that woman, or what Traum was telling me about what was going on here. I felt like I was standing on a precipice, with all my beliefs, about myself, and humans, behind me, and my current circumstances ahead. It didn't help that every time I thought about it I would become, in order, aroused, disgusted with myself and then ashamed. The more restrained, better parts of my nature didn't want to dwell on my body, or hers. The more base side of me wanted to dwell a bit too much.

Her dream lingered in my mind; it seemed so solid, so much more real than most dreams, the plots of which are usually blurry, skewed and illogical. Hers seemed designed to function in a particular way, to arouse things in the viewer, who obviously couldn't be another human.

Dreams well up from inside, even the dreams of something as simple minded as a Caterpie come from a deep place within the dreamer, they are primal, reduced to the strongest expressions their creator's mind can construct, and they're meant to serve their creator, fulfill their _dreamer's_ needs. We don't dismiss the dreams we eat- we respect them, they're our sustenance, but it's more than a mindful eater's respect for his food. We know what they are; we know what we're taking away. The dreams we eat aren't _meant_ for us. We have to eat them; it's our nature. Without them, even with an abundance of other, more mundane, food, we die. But we know we're interrupting something, intruding on something, between the dreamer and his mind, even if in so doing we're sparing them a night of fear and anxiety.

We dream too. Intensely. The greatest intimacy is eating the dreams of one of our own kind; becoming one with the deepest, most essential, part of their being. The worst, most depraved act in our culture is to do this to someone unbidden. It's a taboo so deep it's rarely spoken of, let alone broken.

Kaoru's dream wasn't normal, but I wasn't sure exactly how or why. Her being able to wake up and catch me in the act of consuming it wasn't normal either. To be honest, she frightened me. I didn't want to get so physically close to a human, know her name, it's not the way things are meant to be. It makes everything wrong. We eat the humans' dreams because we need to live, and other than that we try and keep out of their way. Or at least the sensible Hypno do. If you risk being around humans any more than necessary you end up like me. Trapped.

I wanted to bash my head against the tree trunk, put myself out of my conflicted misery. But, on the other hand, I wanted very much to be alive, and repeating what I'd done last night. The fact that this train of thought kept recurring, no matter how much I tried, _really_ tried, to suppress it, made me wonder what kind of dissolute grotesque I was turning out to be. I didn't deserve to return to my marsh. And as for Oneira, I'd never be respectable enough to even look in her direction again. But in the end, despite my conscience, I knew that, come nightfall, I'd be back upstairs waiting, hoping, for Kaoru to dream another intoxicating dream.

I'm not strong.

After not being able to reconcile my thoughts I just paced, wearing a path through the neatly cut grass. It burned off energy, and gave me a feeble sense of purposefulness.

The day wore on. No-one left the house; Kaoru didn't return, and Lazlo stayed in the kennel, though I wasn't sure if he was sleeping or just ignoring me.

As the sun began to set I was surprised how impatient I had gotten. The darkening of the sky seemed interminably drawn out, and I felt sick with anticipation when I saw Kaoru's car drive up. Her children bounded out, and ran inside, and soon there was a lot of noise from that glowing picture box humans so often dream about.

Kaoru made several trips between the house and the car, carrying bags of what I assumed were groceries. She seemed determined to make the task of bringing all the bags inside take as long as possible. Her long black hair draped freely down her back, contrasting with her prim clothes. Her matching pale blue cardigan and high-necked jumper, and knee length black skirt were in no way the attire that humans have sex dreams about, but there was something about all her clothing that seemed constricting, binding, making the shape of her body oddly conspicuous. On her last trip to the car she stopped and stared at the tree. I'm fairly sure she couldn't see me, but there was something about her slight smile that made me sure she knew I was there.

I watched her in the kitchen, preparing food; all her movements seemed excessive, very controlled, yet forceful. She gripped the handle of the knife she was using so hard it obviously hurt, because she had to stop and shake her hand just slightly before continuing. I admit I enjoyed watching.

Her husband wandered in and out of the kitchen, not seeming to know why he was there. Traum crept after him, affecting a servile manner, like some of the walking Pokémon you see following after their masters. The noises of the house were just loud enough that I felt enveloped in their evening routine. It was strange for me. As an unmated male I'm on the outside of my tribe a little, at least compared to how it was when I was younger. I spent most of my time in the evenings alone. Near to the muted sound of my kind, but not a meaningful part of it. I almost wished I was inside with these humans, but it felt idiotic and I didn't want to play pretend like Traum was obviously doing, as he crouched near the picture box.

They went to another room to eat and the house quieted down. The lights in the upstairs rooms came on, and then finally, one by one, went off. Only then did I creep over and go inside.

I wanted to go straight upstairs. That was what I had been waiting for, but when I got inside, and felt warm again, I paused. I had spent my whole life on the outside of the human world, now I was inside a part of it. There were books everywhere, which I had seen in dreams, but didn't understand the purpose of. Humans hold them in dreams, examine their insides, but when _I_ picked them up, they didn't seem to do anything. The picture box was silent. I am not ignorant enough to think it is alive, as I did when I was a Drowzee, but it puzzled me. Humans get information out of it. But why can't they just get that from other humans they know? For the first time in my life I wished humans could understand my kind, so that I could ask them what they know, and know it myself.

I was sure Traum and the other human raised Hypno would have some idea, but I wanted to hear it from the creatures who had made these things, not just observers of their use. It angered me, this sudden feeling of ignorance and inferiority. I had no reason to care for humans, or what they did or had, I was angry that I had been brought to this place.

I walked through the house as I had the previous night, humiliated by my own sense of wonder. As I went upstairs, the atmosphere shifted, Kaoru's dreaming once again having a seismic effect on me. The door to her room was tantalizingly open. The room far to the other end of the hall was closed, and the two men (had the older one left at all today?) were once again asleep, though I couldn't sense Traum's presence. The two children were sleeping as well. The daughter's dream seemed very anxious, misunderstandings between friends leading to sorrow, and the son's was another action packed fantasy, of himself in a giant robot battle.

Kaoru was dreaming of doors. Immense wooden doors and colossal stone walls. Everything was red, like her room. As I walked in she was lying in the exact centre of her bed, her hair fanned out around her, so perfect I could only assume she'd arranged it that way. As I consumed the dream it was like being submerged slowly in very deep, warm water. The doors opened one by one to reveal more walls, more doors. The mood was heavy, I can't explain it exactly, it was more a physical feeling than an emotional one. I felt like I was being pressed on all sides by this strange place her mind had imagined, but it wasn't frightening, just powerful. I could hear a sound, almost like waves, or a river, steady and constant, like breathing. I wished I could stay in this place. Leave reality, and stay, not in her dream, but in the world of it, in this peace forever. Behind the final door I could hear more sounds, like music, or soft talking. As it opened, so slowly, Kaoru's dream avatar appeared. She was naked, and her hair had grown long enough to trail on the floor. Her eyes were startlingly bright, and once she'd seen me the mood changed, as I turned around the walls disappeared. I watched them dissolve; sink into the ground brick by brick, with some regret.

Behind them was an ocean, something I'd seen in other human dreams, but never like this. The water swept up towards us in one huge wave, drowning us. The water was bright, clear, and tactile. It felt like it was exploring my body, with warm, inquisitive fingers, it was invasive and initially shocking, but then pleasurable, and finally imperceptible. Kaoru was swimming through it, her hair swirling around her. There were other creatures in this water, Tentacruel. Kaoru swam up to them and they extended their tentacles around her, in a fairly vulgar way. She seemed to enjoy it, and the dream reverberated with what she felt; my own skin prickled with second hand pleasure. The tentacles left pink welts all over her body and twined into her hair. I felt myself sinking slowly into the depths of the ocean she'd created, watching her rise slowly to the surface. The tentacles reached out to me, and wrapped around my body. It burned. I had imagined something enjoyable, but this was excruciating. Kaoru's hair seemed to have developed a life of its own, and it too started to bind me, twisting around my legs, my neck, choking me, reaching into my mouth, down my throat. The feeling of fear this provoked was almost enough to jerk me out of her dream world entirely. Kaoru stared into my eyes. And then the ocean was gone.

I was back as an observer. We were on land. The atmosphere was superficially light and safe, but I was on my guard now. This place was like a stately garden. Flowers grew from tender soil as I watched, blossoming under a bright sun. Kaoru was wearing a long pink and green dress, and her hair was (mercifully) tied down by little flowers and strings of beads. This didn't seem as real as the past scenes and the edges of it seemed to blur into one another, giving the impression that I was trapped in a bubble. Kaoru began to writhe, in what seemed to be part erotic paroxysm and part seizure. The ground seemed to shift, very slightly at first, then the tremors became stronger as I struggled to keep my balance. Tiny cracks began appearing in the ground, spreading into the sky, which shattered, raining shards down on us. The flowers grew with sudden vigour, becoming fleshy monstrosities, hacked by falling splinters of the breaking heavens. Kaoru's dress was quickly shredded and she began to bleed from numerous tiny cuts, but her blood wasn't red, it was golden, like tree sap and oddly fragrant. She continued to convulse in what was obviously ecstasy, until finally the ground cracked asunder and we fell into darkness.

The last scene took a while to resolve from inky darkness. We were facing another wall, much like the one from the first moments of her dream, but this was golden. It seemed almost molten as the sun beat down on us. This place simmered, making me breathless. I could hear vague sounds, like singing or sighing. Kaoru was wearing a long silvery kimono, which seemed almost to be made of dewdrops. The wall was exuding some sort of liquid, it dripped down slowly. She was kneeling, licking this stuff off the walls, her hands pressed into the walls, getting covered in the sticky juice. It was a strange, entrancing scene. I could feel all of this, I could perceive what she was feeling, the almost painfully hot golden wall beneath her fingers and tongue, the taste of that fluid, sweet but metallic at the same time, feel her arousal, and my own. My body seemed to have melded into this scene, every nerve ending was firing, my flesh felt like waves, ripples. In the heat of the place, I felt like I was gasping for air. She turned to face me, but just before I could see her features clearly, I was out of the dream, my knees buckling.

She was sitting, very composed, in her bed, watching me. Her bed-sheets were twisted and in disarray, and only her long hair preserved her modesty. A half malicious smile curled her lips.

"I knew you would be back." She rose, languorously, from her bed. "Let's wash you." As had happened the night before, I lost my ability to do anything other than dumbly follow her commands. She walked me down to a small bathroom in one corner of her bedroom. When she turned the light on my eyes hurt from how blindingly white it was. There was a small shower, and a very large mirror opposite.

She pushed me into the shower, which seemed unpleasantly claustrophobic. She turned it on and I was blasted with cold water, though it slowly warmed. I didn't like the feel of it initially- it was like being rained on. But slowly I relaxed, it was refreshing. She seemed determined to wash my whole body, scrub off some layer of me she found unappealing, which I felt slighted by. But I didn't resist her; her hands were very soft, not roughened by a life in the outside world, and, in the end, I enjoyed it.

When she'd, apparently, cleaned me to her satisfaction I stood in front of the mirror, regarding my body with a frankness that had never been possible in the still pools of water I has used as mirrors in the past. Even though we were the same height, I realized Kaoru was able to stand far straighter than I can; my legs appeared, for the first time, bandy. Next to her body, mine appeared coarse and unrefined, my limbs were larger, and my nose and ears seemed alien to me. She had the look of a stone smoothed by years in a river, but I looked rough, poorly constructed. Animal.

But none of my newly discovered angst seemed to bother Kaoru. I was very soon discovering exactly what her dream represented. In the end, feeling weak in the knees and dazed, I was abruptly told to leave. I had fulfilled my job requirements for the night.

After closing the door to her room I sank to the floor, trying to catch my breath. Something touched my shoulder and I nearly jumped out of my skin. Traum, of course.

"Well, I see you're covering yourself in glory, amongst other things. How fortunate everyone here is a heavy sleeper. Come, you should meet the others. Spending all this time with the human, you'll lose touch with your roots." He laughed for a moment. I followed him down the stairs.


	4. Chapter 4

I followed Traum downstairs, to a small room in the furthest corner of the house. "Welcome to the conspiracy, friend!" he said sarcastically.

The room was bare except for some filing cabinets and a table that took up most of the floor space. Traum affected a jovial voice "Here's Mimpi, Dormi, Alvas and Sono."

"You're the injured one?" The tallest of the Hypno, Sono, asked. His voice was guttural.

"He sure is!" Traum said, still faux enthused. "Wanna see? It's _gross_."

"Leave him alone Traum." Sono said with weary irritation, "Don't you have someone else to bother?"

"Nah, I thought I'd give them a night off. Let them get some work done. You, know, be a happy little helper."

"I apologize for Traum, he's a bit uncouth sometimes."

"Oh, so not being happy in my servitude makes _me _the crazy one, does it?"

"We just get a bit bored by the same complaints night after night, is all. It gets, you know,_ tiring_." This time Alvas spoke. He was sitting with his back to the door, and only now bothered to look up at us. He had a particularly skinny face and his mane looked unkempt.

"We hear you're the real deal, from a tribe and everything." This was Dormi. She sounded like she was trying to avert an argument. "Oh, I'm so sorry. He'll come round."

It took me a second to realize she'd read my mind. I had been thinking about Lazlo.

"Hey, hey, he's a tribal, remember, they don't just _do_ mind reading. Don't give him the wrong idea." Traum laughed meanly.

Dormi looked embarrassed. "I'm sorry. We've given up with all those traditions."

"She means she had no idea. " Traum spat. "Poor Dormi, with the humans all her life."

I wasn't sure what to say. There was a noise from under the table. A short, skinny Hypno crawled out. She had hunched shoulders and was holding a handful of marker pens. Her skin was covered with crudely drawn flowers, stars and hearts.

"And here's Mimpi, to make everything sunshine and sugar." Traum had shifted from mild aggression back to mocking.

Mimpi was smiling broadly. She ceremoniously handed me a marker pen and then walked around to inspect my back. "They're not as noticeable as you think." She said seriously, "I would never have noticed them if I'd only seen you from the front."

"Well that's great news for him, isn't it?" Traum replied. "All he has to do is stand next to a wall for the rest of his life."

"That would give him something to lean on." I couldn't tell if she was making fun or not. "They're not as bad as my scars were, before they got better."

"You didn't have any scars." Sono said, tiredly.

"I did! They got better. They were shaped like hands, but mine went right through to my _bones_."

Traum laughed, "Sure, and they cut off your head, but luckily it re-grew. Not your brain, but hey, glass half full, right?"

"You never believe me!" Her voice wobbled.

"I have more sense."

She started crying, and flung the markers on the floor.

"Shut up Traum! It's the same thing every fucking night." Alvas snarled. "You always set her off."

"What, you believe her garbage?_ You_ let her keep all those markers. _They've_ probably made holes in her brain!"

Alvas sneered "Since when did you care? It's all an act from you. You've got an audience so suddenly you give a shit! Hey Marsh Boy, this is Traum in savior mode! Better get used to it, it's one of his favorite characters. A nice change from his _celebrated_ asshole persona. "

I wasn't sure what to say. Dormi seemed to notice my discomfort. She laughed nervously "Alvas, come on. There's no point."

Alvas sighed in exasperation. Traum rolled his eyes extravagantly then wandered out. "You may as well sit down." Alvas said. "Ignore Traum. We can always hope he gets traded away someday."

I sat down, trying to look more at ease than I was.

"Where are you from, then?" Asked Sono, obviously hesitant, but trying to seem welcoming.

"A marsh. We're the largest tribe in the area." I was trying to sound very neutral, and keep all thoughts of Kaoru out of my head, lest they read my mind. Of course, not thinking about her made me think about her.

"But _where_?" Dormi said awkwardly. "Could you find it on a map?" She seemed worried she'd offended me almost before she'd finished speaking.

"I've never seen a map." I wasn't sure what to say next, so I tepidly apologized and then wondered why I had.

"You're really from a tribe." Alvas said, the non-question hovering there uncomfortably. "You probably think we're real…" He trailed off.

Mimpi was hiding under the table again, humming something.

"Where are all of you from?" I asked, wondering if I was breaking some taboo by doing so.

"We're all human raised, if that's what you mean." Alvas said slowly. "I'm from Rustboro City, Hoenn. So's Dormi."

I must have looked mystified.

"What's it like in a tribe?" Dormi asked.

"Good. It's good…" I wasn't sure how to describe it. "Our tribe has the most territory- the whole marsh."

"Territory?" The gulf between us was becoming ever larger.

"We're a bit removed from all of that." Sono said. "Even my grandparents were human raised."

Everyone was silent for a while.

"It's not so bad, being with humans." Dormi said. "Not these ones so much. But where I was born was good. Don't listen to Traum. Humans don't mean you any harm."

"Except the one who caught me." I said flatly.

"Well, look, some of them are harsh, but they're not… They mostly mean well."

"You're safe here." Sono said. "These people have been around our kind too long, I'll agree, but they're not cruel. You could be a lot worse off. You'll never be hurt here, anyway."

"Too long?"

"You may have noticed their dreams are a bit… full on." He sounded very awkward now. I had no idea if Traum had told them about Kaoru and me.

"Their minds aren't well anymore. It's unfortunate." Alvas said softly.

"You've probably never seen this before, I'm assuming. Your tribe doesn't _catch_ humans or something?" Sono sounded concerned.

"No. Why would we? We just eat their dreams, they don't even know."

"Sorry, a bit of an urban myth the humans have."

"We try to let them dream sometimes. Go hungry for the greater good, you know. Or, you know… cannibalize." Dormi laughed nervously.

"You eat _each other's_ dreams?" I felt nauseated.

"The lady's dream's are scary." Mimpi said innocently. "She's always trying to get me."

"Her dreams aren't _always_ violent." Dormi said.

"I avoid hers. The husband's are jumpy but they're safer." Alvas looked weary. "A scientist should know better. We all need food, he doesn't seem to understand the implications of that."

"We avoid the children's dreams as much as possible. Their minds are fresh, but will decay quicker than an adult's. I suggest you do the same." Sono smiled wanly. "Sorry to throw all this at you as soon as we meet."

"Why are we here?" I asked.

"The scientists, to the best of my knowledge, are working on a weapon. Trying to use our hypnotism powers for something. Hence the brain scans. I'm not quite sure what form it's meant to take, like, defensive or offensive, or who it's aimed at." Sono said in a measured voice.

"It's the husband's innovation. He's a bit, fuck it, a _lot_ obsessed. With what we do." Alvas added. "The two of them, the husband and the wife, they're both a bit weird about us. Not _us_, us- but our kind. His dreams, the real ones, are often about us. They don't make for pleasant viewing. Anyway, look, this is all.., It's a bit hard to be clear about. And it's late, I suggest we sleep." He sighed, something between tiredness and exasperation.

I curled up under the table. Mimpi had crawled as far under as she could, and was drawing on the wall and humming something. Everyone seemed to drift off. I thought about Oneira, partially to help me calm down. I can't remember falling asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

(Author's note: Sorry about the lag between this chapter and the last one. Family life kind of impeding the creative flow. Hopefully there won't be as big of a gap between this chapter and the next one. Disclaimer: I still do not own Pokémon)

I woke up feeling stiff and not particularly well rested. I couldn't remember dreaming, and had a moment of paranoia, wondering if someone had cannibalized my dream. Sono and Alvas were talking in lowered tones across the room, and Mimpi was curled up tightly in the corner, shaking in her sleep. Dormi was gone, and Traum had apparently spent the night elsewhere. The house was quiet.

I toyed with the idea of going outside, but then decided not to risk running into one of the humans. I was starting to feel vaguely apprehensive about meeting the two human males. Visions of my brain floating in a jar flashed through my mind. I wanted to ask someone what the superficially harmless humans would be searching through my brain for. Sono and Alvas were still deeply engaged in their conversation. And what was I thinking? I didn't know these Hypno. They had no tribe, no allegiance. Their motives and loyalties couldn't be assumed. Back home such outsiders would have been treated with suspicion and it annoyed me that my defences had lowered. They, like the humans, couldn't be trusted. Which left me with no-one to trust except Lazlo, and _he_ had every reason not to trust _me_. My brain felt knotted.

I allowed myself to slip into a train of paranoid mental ramblings. I could run away from this house, with its unfathomable humans and castoff Hypno. There didn't seem to be any walls keeping me in. There was an unobstructed path leading off into the wild blue yonder. But getting home from here would be dangerous. I couldn't orient myself in this landscape. I would need to pass through numerous territories, where I had no kin to vouch for me. Where I would be treated with mistrust, even attacked. Or worse, there would be no Hypno there, just emptiness. And danger, from human and Pokémon. I wouldn't make it.

But if I stayed here, I would lose my identity, and my freedom. I would never see my tribe again. Oneira. All the places I knew. I would be a nothing. I would turn into a mind reading pervert, or just the regular kind. I would starve, end up eating my own kind's dreams. Be trapped in this house, with its little scrap of outdoors. Condemned to the same landscape forever, caged by my own fear of escape. They might trade me away. They might experiment on me, sift through my brain until I ended up a gibbering mess. I would lose myself.

The choice between leaving and staying was like being asked whether you would prefer loosing your hands or your feet. Neither answer is going to be pleasant. I felt an abyss open in my chest, like my heart had dropped through the floor. I wanted to run, run, run away, but the outside world would kill me. Everyone in our tribe knows the dangers that are out there. The usual ones of being injured too far from help, being attacked by other Pokémon, or our own, or being captured… We live in a kind of permanent nebulous dread. But it is the only way to be safe. No one will protect you but your own tribe. No-one else can.

I didn't want to think anymore. Suddenly there was a snorting sound from under the table. I looked over to see Mimpi staring at me, obviously trying to stifle her laughter. I crawled under the table. "What?"

"I know a secret about you," she whispered "Do you want to know what it is?"

"Can't be much of a secret, if you're just going to tell me."

She pouted, which I found annoying.

"You're going to run away. I know a lot of secrets, but I won't tell_ you_ any more." She started sniffing a marker. I looked up at the table. She'd drawn all over it. Clumsy, crude drawings that had bled into the grain of the wood. Blobby hearts and stars and flowers.

"I know about you and the lady upstairs." Apparently my lack of enthusiasm hadn't dented her desire to talk to me.

"Well that seems to be common knowledge now." My reply sounded acerbic, even to me.

"What's it like?"

"None of your business." I had intended to tell her she was too young to be asking before remembering that she was probably close to my age.

"I'm not too young to ask. Besides, I already know about that. And mind reading is just faster. Everyone does it."

"I don't. And you shouldn't."

"Well everyone _here_ does. What's your swamp like?"

"I don't live in a swamp."

"Traum says you did."

"Did he actually say that to you? Or did you just _extract_ it?"

"Same thing, he tells me lots of things."

I wasn't sure what that statement confirmed, but I decided that because she was annoying and Traum was too, they probably had a lot to say to each other.

"Traum's like my brother, that's why he tells me things he doesn't tell anyone else. "

"Good for you. I had him pegged as someone who liked _mystery_."

"He just likes making you confused, because he's jealous."

"Great, what a probing dissection of his character." I suddenly realized that I actually wanted to know _what_ he was jealous of. I felt a little guilty once I realized how satisfied the thought of Traum being discontented made me feel.

"He wishes he came from a swamp."

"Great, I hope he finds one. And sinks in it."

"You're not very nice."

"That's a stupid thing to say. How do you know?" It was like bickering with a child. The fact that this place was also stripping me of any semblance of maturity made me feel depressed. Which was, in turn, irritating.

"I know you want to leave, but you're scared. Which makes you a baby. Like on TV." I didn't really understand her reference, but the reasoning was apparently solid enough for her. "You don't know anything. Your swamp sounds boring. Why are you scared to run away?" Genuine curiosity apparently breaking through her blithe dismissal of my intellect.

"Aren't _you_ scared of being alone? Like, without other Hypno? Out there?" I decided it would be pointless trying to explain the protection tribes offered.

"I wouldn't go outside. It's boring out there. I wouldn't be scared, though."

"Have you ever been out… Away from humans?"

"Yes. Of course!" She found the question annoying enough that I assumed her answer was a lie. At first I felt superior in the life experience I had, that she lacked. Then the implications of her being with humans her whole life made me sad. She'd never really grown up; she was a pouty child in an adult's body. Not normal.

"Where are your family, Mimpi?"

"I don't have a stupid family. I don't need anyone. I take care of myself."

"You don't have anyone?"

"I'm not needy like Dormi, or _sooo_ sad and useless like you." She rolled her eyes. "You come from a boring swamp, full of boring people like you. I know things only the humans know, like Traum. You think you're so smart but you don't know anything. Go away! Or go back to that lady. Only she likes you." Her truncated tantrum fizzled before she could inject it with much emotion.

"Ow. You wound me so." I wasted some sarcasm on her.

"What? I didn't _hit_ you!" Then she did.

"Should I go?"

"Yes, because I'm bored, and you're stupid to talk to." She turned around and started scribbling on the wall with a marker.

Feeling more annoyed than I probably should have I crawled out from under the table. Sono was asleep now, and Alvas was staring blankly out the window. I crept out.

I wanted to talk to someone who wasn't Mimpi, and order my thoughts. But potential colleagues in this pursuit seemed limited. Lazlo probably wouldn't want to hear me mope and plan an escape I'd likely be too cowardly… cautious to follow up on. I wandered the empty house. I felt uncomfortable in it, wary. I couldn't understand why. The humans had brought me here, given me the _right_ to exist here. Given me no say in the matter. Why did I feel so ill at ease? I felt lessened by this house. Like some creature, without a mind. I wasn't a human, and this was a human place. Why did not being human suddenly make me feel so flawed?

I found myself at the foot of the stairs. I could hear the humans, Tadao and Norio, talking animatedly upstairs. About unusual readings and data that didn't fit expected patterns. Traum was apparently up there. I stood at the foot of the stairs. Waited for them to come out, see me and use _my_ brain, for whatever they did. My readings would be obediently fitted to existing data patterns. They wouldn't confuse any readings or make life hard. I'd quietly belong, and be a good pet and exemplary subject. No one came out of the room. My wish to be of service was dashed.

There was a tap on the window behind me. I jumped. It was Dormi. She smiled reassuringly and gestured for me to come outside. I wandered to the door and met her in the garden.

"You looked, I don't know, _gloomy_. I thought I should get you. Sorry."

"Why sorry?"

"I don't know. Just… I don't know."

"It's okay. I don't know what I should be doing."

"Mimpi doesn't mean to be rude. She's just, I can't explain it."

"You're mind reading me?" I just wanted to be sure.

"Sorry. Hard habit to break."

"Don't worry." Since she's know anyway, I said what was on my mind "Why's Mimpi… Not grown?"

"In the mind? I don't know. She wasn't cared for very well, for a long time. It's hard to tell what's a lie and what's not with her. I don't think you ever get the truth from her. I don't think she can tell anyone."

"Why didn't they care for her? Why would they…" I stopped.

"Raise her if they didn't need her for something? Don't worry, I won't be offended." She smiled slightly "Humans aren't always careful with Pokémon. I think Mimpi was a failed breeding."

"Failed?"

"Not the right stats or something. So she was just left in a daycare."

"You've lost me."

"A place where they breed us. I guess she wasn't up to scratch. They didn't leave her with anyone who could… civilize her. No Hypno. No humans who trained her, either. I eat her dreams, because it's better if she doesn't have them," She was suddenly angry "that's how bad it was. Sorry. I don't mean to scandalize you. It's just, she can't dream in a healthy way. It's all bad. Her mind isn't well."

"What's it like to eat one of our dreams?"

"You never have? I thought…"

"No. I never have."

"Not with the pink girl?"

"Oneira. She's Oneira. No. We're not… No."

"Oh. I thought… I'm not sure."

I couldn't think of anything that would bridge the gap between our worlds for a while. But it was okay. Dormi was a calming presence.

"Come on, come see this." She beckoned me forward, until we were standing under the garden's one huge tree. She leant in close, and, for a second I was confused. "What?" she said softly "I want to climb up." She laughed slightly and leapt up into the tree's forked trunk, unsteady for a second. She extended a hand magnanimously, and we climbed up until we were lost in the leaves. Sitting in the tree, with Dormi the admirable climber, I watched the sky. This tree must have been old, far older than the house. The ancient gnarled branches seemed so much more solid than any of the human constructions; they'd weathered countless seasons the house could never endure. I wondered if the humans ever climbed the tree, or gave it much thought at all- this ancient wild thing in their neatly clipped and trimmed garden.

"How did you learn to climb Dormi? I thought, you, well… You'd be more comfortable in the house."

"I am," she said lightly "But I've been outdoors before, obviously." A mischievous half smile spread over her face "Come on, _really_?"

I felt stupid.

"They didn't keep me locked up or something. There _were_ trees where I grew up. I was told we Hypno climb trees, so I tried it a few times. I liked that, if you got high enough, no one knew you were there and it was like you really _weren't_. You were just...part of the world. Sorry, that sounds pretentious."

"Who told you?"

"A wild Musharna. I was wandering around outside and she was there. There was a forest near the house I grew up in. I was kind of scared of it, really."

"We don't climb much, you know. At least, not where I'm from. Have you ever fallen out?"

"No. But _you_ have." She laughed, then tried to stifle it, but couldn't. "No, no, I didn't mind read, I could just tell."

"Yes, well, I'm not as practiced as you are." I tried to affect wounded dignity but couldn't manage it.

"But there are so many trees where you're from, why don't you?"

"Well, I guess, when you're living _out there_, trees don't seem that exiting."

"I always liked them. That sounds stupid. I always liked pretending I was from out there."

"You never tried to go?"

"No." she sounded a little sad "I thought about it, but, I don't know, I was raised by humans… I thought if I got traded away, I might see more of _there_, the world. But it… scared me. And _Alvas_, obviously. Why would I go?"

"Did _he_ ever want to go away?"

"Kind of. I talked him out of it, a bit. I was scared. He kind of wanted to go, but not entirely, like me. It's like a desire that comes and goes. We were scared of you… _wild_ ones. Sorry, I don't mean, it's just…"

"I know, I suppose."

"Me and Alvas used to fight and fight about stuff like that. He thought we'd find… _your_ kind of Hypno, and then… I don't know what he thought. _I _thought we'd be chased away, and it would be embarrassing. And we'd have to go back to the humans anyway, so _why_, why go?"

I couldn't explain the suspicion she would have faced if she had met a Hypno tribe. I'd never thought about the equation from the other side. I wondered for the first time why we hated the human raiseds so much. We sat in the tree silently after that, Dormi leaning on my arm in a companionable way. The sun arched through the sky.

"We should go down. It's going to get cold." She said finally.

On the way down I was glad I was behind her, so she wouldn't see my wobbly, white knuckled climb down. When we were on, thankfully, solid ground she said something vague about checking on Mimpi and crept into the house. She looked almost furtive, which made me feel suddenly, inexplicably, guilty.

"I see our Dormi is working her magic." Traum hissed. I hadn't heard him behind me and jumped, then felt foolish. "She's a _nice_ girl. Taking you up to her tree of seduction."

"She…" I had no idea how to finish the sentence. I wanted instinctively to defend Dormi, but couldn't understand why, entirely. It was, perhaps, more of a reflexive desire to disagree with Traum.

He continued, smiling a particularly venomous smile "Oh, but I guess I shouldn't be _ungrateful_, myself. Dormi's always so good to _talk_ to, after all. And her mind reading habits are so _convenient_."

"Really, with you?" I said coolly. "Poor girl, she _must_ be bored."

Traum switched tack. "Well, I'm sure her homey charms won't do it for _you_, now, of course. Now that you've had more transformative experiences."

I glared at him. Which probably indicated that I'd lost that altercation.

I heard the crunch of gravel, Kaoru had arrived back.

"Come on, let's go up and help with the research." Traum said sourly. I followed him, as silently as possible back into the house. As we reached the stairs, and I heard the car door outside shut neatly, a feeling of foreboding settled over me.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Mind control

We headed back to the room in the corner of the house. Sono was still sleeping, and Dormi was kneeling over him, obviously consuming his dream. I was appalled. Traum caught my eye and smiled maliciously.

"Wait, wait." He said softly. As if on cue we heard footsteps on the stairs. The door opened and the older human smiled vaguely down at us. Traum made some foolish movement indicating upstairs, which the human seemed to ignore. Nevertheless he gestured broadly at Traum and I, and we followed him. As I left I caught Dormi's eye. Her gentle, distracted face looked ashen.

Traum capered exaggeratedly after Norio as we walked upstairs. I tried to walk with a very straight back all the way upstairs, which made my scars hurt and apparently went unnoticed anyway.

Upstairs the room was bathed in the dingy light of the blinking wall of monitors. The two humans conversed quietly for a few moments, glancing occasionally in my direction. I felt uneasy. "Whatever you do, don't resist." Traum hissed, his usual sarcasm all but gone. The uneasiness deepened.

The two humans advanced on me, and I cowered. "It's okay, this won't hurt too much." Tadao said cheerily, jabbing me in the arm with something that made me yelp. "Now come forward and we'll fix you up to the monitoring equipment." I felt very calm, somehow, though the fear was still on my mind. It was as if, whilst I remained aware, I had no power to act on it. My skin began to tingle, and my body felt immensely heavy, as though my control over its functions was weakening. The overall effect was terrifying, but I was numbed to it, my conscious thought relegated to a small, frightened corner of my brain.

"You reckon it will alter the baseline data?" Norio said, his words filtering through my head from a great distance.

"Nah, better he's calm. I don't know what mental damage this one's undergone. Might be no good for study anyway." Tadao's voice drifted into my ears, as they seated me on a stool in a small chamber I had mistaken for a filing cabinet. My mind was telling me to run, fight back, do _something_. 'No, it's okay' I answered myself. 'Run, now, fight them off!' I was obviously panicked, but I couldn't respond to it.

"Gimme that gel." Norio's voice sounded hazier than ever. I felt a cold slimy sensation on my head, then another and another. It was unpleasant, but I couldn't seem to lift my arm to rub it off.

"Okay, he's done. Where's subject 5?" Tadao moved out of earshot.

"There's a good boy. Sit up." I couldn't discern which human was speaking now. My head lolled, and my skin felt unbearably like it was crawling. Hours seemed to tick by. I got progressively more anxious, my teeth clenching and unclenching. Suddenly it was as if there was another voice in my head, telling me how calm I needed to be.

'But I don't know what's going on.' I whimpered.

'That isn't important. Please, maintain calm.' The voice said. I felt my heart rate slow, which made me, if anything, more afraid.

'No, no I don't want to die. Don't do this!' My thoughts pooled out, drifting slowly through my mind.

"Fuck, it isn't working, subject 6 isn't responding."

'Please be calm, you have nothing to fear.' The voice placed emphasis on every word, which should have sounded strange, but instead seemed natural, correct. 'Allow your breathing to stabilize. Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale.' The voice seemed to be coming from my chest. I could feel it vibrate through my body, not loud, just strong. I felt myself relax. I was calm. I would do what I was told, and it would make me happy. I felt reassured.

'Are you calm now?'

'Yes, I am calm.' I couldn't imagine feeling anything else.

'Are you listening and understanding?'

'Yes, I am.' I wanted the voice to keep talking to me. The need to keep listening felt so desperate. Every second it was silent was torturous.

'Will you obey me?' It sounded certain of my response, yet the very idea that it could question me was painful.

'Yes, yes!' I begged it to keep talking, petrified it would be silent and I would never hear it again. This thought seemed like the most devastating possibility I had ever conceived of.

'Will your obedience be loyal, and pure?'

'Yes, please direct me. I need to follow you.' I could feel tears welling in my eyes.

'Will you obey to the best of your capabilities, without fail?'

'I will, I will. I will do anything you ask. Don't doubt me!' Tears ran down my cheeks, with the effort of ordering my thoughts, and the fear that I would disappoint. I felt sure that this voice would care for me, protect me, and it asked so little. Such a precious little. Only that I obey its commands. Which was nothing, a pleasure, not a chore. I begged my brain to respond faster, communicate better, show me in the best possible light.

'Will you obey me to the death? To your dying breath?'

'I will! Please believe me, don't doubt me! I will be the best servant I can. I won't fail! I will never fail you! I love you. I will obey…' My head span, lights flashed behind my eyes, dazzling me. I shivered, my vision swirled and I blacked out.

"Fuck! Fuck it. He's out. Come here."

I could feel myself being carried. The voice was gone. I couldn't remember what it had said, which worried me a little. I drifted off.

_Click_. _Click_. I opened my eyes, blearily. Traum was leaning over me, smirking. He clicked his fingers one more time.

"Too much for your little brain to handle, I gather." His false, breezy voice irked me.

"What happened? Does that always happen?" I felt cold and my head throbbed.

"No." He didn't sound like he was in an up front sort of mood.

"What did they do… to me?" I struggled to get the words out. My tongue felt heavy and uncooperative.

Traum snickered. "Oh what horrors did those dastardly humans inflict?" He said in a falsetto voice. "Scanning you brain appears to apply pressure than it can take."

"But I heard…" I couldn't finish. I couldn't quite recall what I had wanted to say, it just felt important. I could hear the humans arguing, Kaoru's voice among them. I smiled dopily.

"Your _lover_ was most annoyed. You should have heard the shit she was saying about it." He shifted back into falsetto "That poor thing, barely recovered from its injuries…"

"She did?" I could barely string two words together.

"I imagine she'll want to _comfort_ your hurt a bit, tonight. You better hang around."

"I can't understand…"

"Goodness, what a _shock_!" He laughed nastily. "You know _my_ first time was so much better."

"Is this what the humans do to us?"

"Slap a few receptors on your head and sit you on a stool? Yes, that is more or less the full extent of the violation."

"I don't want to do it again." My head spun as I tried to sit up. I groaned and curled up.

"How unfortunate, since that is essentially your job description."

"Do they do that to Dormi?"

"My, how chivalrous. Yes, she is _cruelly_ used for research as well."

I managed to steel myself enough to sit up. Traum was sitting on the table in the research room, and I was, once again, on the floor.

"Please, go away." I said, the words coming out as a pathetic whimper. My head spun again and I rested it on the floor once more.

Traum smirked, but seemed to pity me, and climbed off the table and slipped silently from the room. I lay there for a long time. Inhaling and exhaling, until my breathing felt normal again.


	7. Chapter 7

It took several hours for me to feel well. I can't explain it, I felt dizzy, even nauseous, but the physical symptoms were minor in comparison to the effect the human 'research' had had on my mind.

I couldn't think. It could barely string half a coherent thought together before it would dissolve into nothingness again, leaving me with an odd feeling that I was remembering forgetting something I couldn't remember. I had to talk myself through the events of the past couple of days to confirm their reality, and, due to the bizarreness of what had actually happened, it was very hard to do. Everything felt hazy and illusionary. Like a dream you can't quite grab hold of once you've woken up. My sieve like memory left me filled with paranoia. I couldn't trust my mind's recall of events; what was real and what wasn't. I couldn't be sure of anything. I needed someone to reassure me that I wasn't wandering dazed in the forest after a blow to the head or something.

I wanted to see Kaoru. Feel her body and know it was solidly and unquestionably real. And that I was too. The fact that a human stranger, who regarded me as a lesser life form, seemed the most likely source of comfort was painful. A lump rose in my throat, and I ordered myself to be strong, accept the situation I was in with some level of dignity and inner strength.

It's hard to feel inner strength and dignity when you're huddled under a table.

I could hear Tadao, Norio and another male voice talking downstairs. I listened for a while. The unfamiliar voice was deep, there was something unusual about the cadence of it- every phrase seemed measured, commanding. This was not a person who ever hurried his words for anyone, or struggled to be heard. Whenever he spoke Norio and Tadao would immediately fall into a respectful silence.

"Are we close to completion?" the slow voice spoke.

"Uh, well," Tadao sounded especially flustered "Look, it's coming along. We could probably test it on human subjects. I, uh, think it would…"

"It would, most likely, achieve the desired affect now." Norio was trying to inject more certainty into his words, but his nerves betrayed him nevertheless.

"The Hypno largely respond to it now. We've had one, nah, two subjects have _atypical_ reactions. But one is, um..."

Norio broke in "The subjects he's referring to are unusual- one's a bit _damaged_ and the other was a wild caught subject exhibiting a high level of trauma. They're not ideal test subjects is what I'm saying. I could get the reports on one of them if ya want. The other we only did today. It had a minor freak out, might respond better later."

"That won't be necessary. My backers are becoming… impatient." The slow voice paused for a long moment. "I'm not usually one to set deadlines, but I'm giving you a fortnight to ensure uniform performance."

Tadao sounded panicked "A fortnight? That's not enough time. It would be irresponsible…" He trailed off, apparently unsure of how to finish.

When the voice spoke, after a pause, it had an edge to it "I suggest you collate your data with the other research teams, and work any _kinks_ out of the project. The deadline stands. I trust that will be motivation enough to have the project ready in time. Your research has been amply compensated, after all."

Norio laughed, trying to sound genial and utterly failing to conceal his tension. "Look, you can tell him it'll be ready. No worries. We'll even go see Shinobu's team tonight."

"Good. I'll take my leave gentlemen. I'm glad this discourse has been so productive. My backers will be pleased."

I listened for a little longer. The slow voiced man left, with Tadao and Norio following him to the door.

"Why'd you tell him that?" Tadao was irritated.

"You don't think he'll have sent someone to twist Shinobu's arm too? I'm just worried that that idiot will botch it up trying to hurry or something. We've got to go over. And subject 6's response was like what Shinobu was whining about yesterday. We've got to fix this. Now!"

Tadao groaned. "Oh fuck it, come on then. I don't know where all our fucking time goes."

They sounded like they were coming back upstairs. I hurried back and tried to look like I had been asleep the whole time. They rifled through their files. Tadao called up this Shinobu character who, judging by the half of the conversation I could hear, was in a hysterical panic.

When he had reassured the frantic Shinobu and hung up, Tadao spoke "Damn idiot wasn't going to call us, got put on the same deadline. Arsehole. Subject 6 is still out cold. Fuck it. It's always when you don't need the delay."

"I knew that trainer gypped us. Damn cowboy. Half killed the damn thing then sells him to us. It's disgusting."

"Yeah, yeah. Come on, let's go."

"You going to tell the Missus you're heading off?"

"Nah, you know how much she hates being woken up." I felt a stab of mean spirited smugness. She doesn't hate being woken up by everyone. They left. I waited until the car drove off. For once something was going slightly my way.

I listened to make sure that no-one else was likely to interrupt at some inopportune moment. The hallway leading to Kaoru's room had the same atmosphere bending effect. Her dream seemed to have seeped into the walls and floor of the hall. I crept into the room. She was once again spread languorously across the bed, her hair, this time, loosely braided. I never would have thought the alien form of a human body would seem as appealing to me as she did.

I started to consume her dream. It felt different to the usual ones, but it was just as deep. I was in forest. It had the familiarity of all forests, but viewed through a human's eyes. It was darker and quieter than in reality, humans obviously don't pay much attention to nuances of sound and light in places they don't frequent. Kaoru was there, but not in her usual form. I was watching a much younger version of her wander through these trees, tripping over their roots and running her hands over their rough bark. I could feel it through my own palms, and it felt as unfamiliar as it would to a human. There didn't seem to be any purpose to her wandering. Wherever the forest wasn't oppressively dark, beams of bright sunlight flashed through, which seemed to give Kaoru a fleeting feeling of security. I could feel fear through, just an undercurrent of it, but there all the same.

It was obviously a _real _dream. Not like her typical, strangely choreographed and controlled offerings. This wasn't meant for me. I felt an odd hesitance to continue. I didn't need to eat it, though, of course, it was _food_, and after the events of earlier I needed some sustenance. But I wasn't sure I should take this dream, or even observe it. On the other hand, a part of me wanted to, for no other reason than because I was curious about what she dreamed when she was alone with herself. And, even though this wasn't like her other dreams, it was still a powerfully engaging vision. Human dreams are usually foggy, ephemeral and confusing. This was crystal clear, it almost felt real. In the end my curiosity won out.

The forest of Kaoru was apparently endless. If I looked where she was looking I could see the individual differences between the trees, their gnarled branches, hollows, withered and young leaves, but if I really looked around I could see that the trees all began to look the same the further from her they were. It was rather uncanny to look deep into this forest and see a thousand identical trees. I realized that this must be what it was like for a human to be lost in a forest. Everything on all sides looked the same, not enough differentiation to tell where one had walked before. A part of me felt sad for lost, little Kaoru. Every so often I'd get a flash of some other image, car doors slamming, unfamiliar faces, angry voices. It made the whole dream more apprehensive. She stumbled on, until finally she arrived in a small clearing. The light here was cool, the sky above was overcast but the sun shone through. Young Kaoru stopped. I could feel the fear deepen. The trees almost seemed to recede a little. I could hear twigs cracking somewhere. Kaoru started yelling something, though I couldn't hear it. She turned around and around, trying to see what was making the noises. I felt her fear, my heart started to beat faster and faster. I wanted to leave the dream. I don't like fear. But I wanted to see what was so terrifying. There was one last sound, a twig snapping that felt deafening. Kaoru turned around and looked right at me, and right through me, and screamed piercingly. I shivered. I could see it. It was me.

No, not me. Just _a _Hypno. The dream world melted. I was sitting on the floor in Kaoru's room. The usual red walls and dim light. She was awake and looking right at me. Her expression unreadable. My heart rate hadn't slowed, but I felt the residual fear of her dream fading. As it dissipated I began to feel rather offended. One of _my_ kind was enough to build a nightmare? I know humans generally don't like us. But Kaoru? She's scared of _us_? Shouldn't it be the other way around? Leaning on the wall was making my back hurt, and I felt slightly sick again.

"Well?" she sounded irritated "Get up."

I obeyed before I even thought about it, and then felt annoyed at myself for doing so. She watched me fixedly.


	8. Chapter 8

"Well?" she sounded irritated "Get up."

I obeyed before I even thought about it, and then felt annoyed at myself for doing so. She watched me fixedly. I tried to stare back, but couldn't hold her gaze. I ended up shamefacedly watching my feet. I can't explain why I felt ashamed. I was doing what I have to do, to live. I didn't ask to be brought here. I can't undo my own nature. I was annoyed that I felt I needed to apologize. Her unblinking stare was hard to bear. Like the sun on a hot day, inescapable, maddening.

"I have that dream often. The one I believe you just consumed." Her voice was even, but cold. I couldn't tell if she was angry. I wished, more than ever before, that humans could understand us, so that I could at least try and explain to her that I am not some primeval horror who takes pleasure in robbing her of her dreams. That I, like her, must eat to live.

"I have had nightmares about you _things_, since I was a child. Told to avoid forests, lest I be stolen away. Always slept with a light on in my room, even now." She wasn't even looking at me as she spoke. "And now, you're still interfering with my mind. How… unexpected." She glared up at me, the look on her face twisted- rage being forced into a closed lipped smile. My blood chilled, and I felt sure I'd be sick.

"Oh, don't look so terrified. You creatures are so guileless. It's so strange, you see so much subconscious, deceptive… stuff…. and still. I won't hurt you."

I wished she'd just have said she was going to tear out my nails, or break my fingers. At least I would have known what to try and steel myself against.

I waited. Finally, after what seemed an eternal minute she beckoned me closer, and, for a tiny second, I resisted. Then my natural cowardice won out and I shuffled forward until I was standing just in front of her. She had a very subtle fragrance. Something woody and barely detectable.

I felt my heart race, my blood surge through my veins, beneath my yellow skin. I have described Kaoru as alien. But that is not, perhaps, true. What she said before is closer to reality. I have known humans more intimately than they know themselves, almost all my life. Their minds, and through their minds, their bodies, their fears, their desires, their dreams. The insides of human minds, the grisly innards of their subconscious, are closer and more familiar than the inner workings of my own kind. I have never seen another Hypno's dream. I have lived inside a human's. Kaoru's body can't be alien in my eyes. Humans are always there, always the other normal, the other side of my own reality. They're the middle ground of Hypno lives. Though, of course, Kaoru is quite firmly in the foreground of my life.

I stood there dreading and yet desperately desiring her touch. Wanting her hands, so different, yet so like mine, to return me to reality, make all the hazy fear and confusion to go away. She stared at me, hands tantalizingly pressed onto the bed. I could tell by her expression that she was disgusted by me. Not me, the individual, but me, the Hypno. Maybe to her those are interchangeable concepts.

I felt hurt by her distaste, but it didn't kill my desire, which made me feel oddly craven. I wanted to tell her I was good. Not revolting, or terrifying, or monstrous. 'But', I asked myself, 'how good am I?' However you look at it, I'm not any shade of good enough. I found I couldn't quite meet her eyes, which she seemed to notice. A smile curled her lips.

"A creature good for only one thing. Two, if you count my husband's little _project_. Come up here. Sit where I can have a good, long look at you." My skin prickled, not in an entirely pleasant way. Her eyes flashed. She scraped her fingers over my chest. It probably would have been erotic if she hadn't had that look of distaste verging on abhorrence burning in her eyes. I felt somewhere between turned on and afraid. Her hands twisted around my shoulders, and I cringed away, not wanting her to touch the scars all over my back. I wanted to disown those ugly symbols of my stupidity and cowardice.

"Oh come on. My parents were doctors, it's not like I haven't seen wounds before." Her voice sounded irritated, rather than reassuring. I honestly wondered why she was even explaining herself to me. I forced myself to be still. She ran a finger firmly around the edge of the scars, and I was surprised how little I could feel it. She didn't seem concerned about whether I was healing or not, it was obviously mainly a curiosity inspired examination. I couldn't look at her.

I wished I could have been experiencing one of her dreams. They left me invigorated. Kaoru herself made me feel as inferior as she seemed sure I was. And, as my body continued to react as she wanted it to, I began to agree with her evaluation. I felt scattered, like my mind had been broken up, couldn't focus. I wished I felt whole, and that I was enjoying myself as much as my body felt I should be. I turned my mind off, let myself drift away, but found that there was nowhere else to think about. It eventually annoyed Kaoru. She glared down at me. "Oh, it's just the dreams, is it?" Her expression was stuck between livid and, maybe, slightly hurt. Seeing her respond to me, for a change, gave me a little extra vigour. She twisted herself into a different position, pressing down on me. It made my scars twinge with pain, but I couldn't move myself up. The juxtaposition of pain and pleasure at least brought my focus back, for a while I surrendered my mind to my body. She was glaring at me. "Get out. Stupid animal."

I got up, feeling deflated and dazed. I just wanted to sleep. Not to relive fatigue, just to make the world go away. I felt unsatisfied, hungry even. I wanted to avoid Traum, Mimpi and the others, and go somewhere where I could think clearly again.

Stumbled downstairs, outside, felt the icy air slice into me, curled up behind the tree. Waited for the world to leave. Staring up at the stars. Thousands and thousands of stars. It think I must have fallen asleep, but it was still dark when I felt someone nudging me awake. Lazlo was looming over me.

"Well, what have you done to yourself?"

Couldn't focus my eyes, he was blurry. "Can't think. And the human woman. You know."

"No, I _don't know_. I doubt I want to know. Come on, you look like you're going to piss yourself shuddering like that."

"I've certainly fallen," I said through teeth "in your esteem."

He looked pitying for the longest minute, rubbing his temples "Come on, at least the kennel has walls. You can embarrass yourself, but no-one will see." I followed him, curled up inside the tiny house that degradation built and fell deeply and dreamlessly to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

I woke up an indeterminate time later with Dormi looking lovingly down at me. I closed my eyes and wished she wasn't there. My head felt hazy, but I couldn't help wishing I felt worse, so I could justify telling her to go away. When I looked up again she was leaning back, stung. I tried to make my thoughts less unpleasant, and more or less entirely failed. I realized I hadn't dreamed and glared at her accusingly.

"Lazlo was worried about you." She said unapologetically, crossing her arms, "Your dream was dark, like _Mimpi_ level dark. I got no joy out of eating it."

"It's still _my_ dream. And I wasn't sure I wanted to do something… personal, with you."

"Oh, because that might be _sick_, or _wrong_, somehow?" She glared at me.

"No… just, not…" I trailed off. "I don't remember what happened yesterday." It surprised me how unsurprised I sounded as I said it.

"Oh, you must have just pushed it all into your subconscious then."

I blushed. "Was it… my dream wasn't…"

"It was _unusual_, I'll give you that."

"This is why eating each other's dreams is a _bad_ thing!" I wished I knew what I'd dreamed.

"Yes, much better to starve to death whilst remaining morally uncorrupted." She rolled her eyes. "Because you, of all people, would have the moral high ground."

I looked away. It seemed to be late afternoon. Kaoru would be back soon.

"Oh, so you're too pure to do something with me, but a_ human_ is fine?"

I tried to focus my thoughts- '_Go away go away go away.._.'

She stayed where she was. Her previously soft, kind eyes were blazing.

"What do you want from me? I'm weak! I give in to my urges! I…" I couldn't keep the anger flowing, my intended tirade of self recrimination fizzled out before it even got going. Unable to give that momentum I just sat there, staring at the kennel walls, counting the tree rings in each plank.

"I got you something." Dormi said impassively. She extended her arm gracefully, and released a long silver chain, with a drop shaped silver pendant on it. The pendant swung gently back and forth, glinting in the fading afternoon light.

"Where did you get that?" I asked warily.

"It's your human's. Well, it was hers. It can be yours now. She doesn't need it. You do."

"You took… what is it?"

"It's something she wears around her neck sometimes. A necklace. I did take it. I felt it had just the right weight, for a pendulum."

I'd lost my pendulum, and with it, a little piece of my identity. A part of my mind was pleading with me to just take it, restore some of my lost dignity and control. But I wasn't sure I trusted Dormi's calm, impassive face.

"Why don't you want it?" I asked her finally.

"I want you to have it. You need it. Who would I want to hypnotize after all?"

I did something I felt immediately ashamed of, and tried to read her mind. I just wanted the truth out of her. Whatever that was. I was hit instantly by a web of impressions, thoughts, memories, thoughts of thoughts, instincts and desires. It took a few seconds for me to gather myself together. Dormi was staring at me, a smile very poorly disguised. "That takes practice, you know."

I blushed furiously and looked away. "I'm sorry, I'll never do that again."

"I don't mind."

"You should, it's… disgusting."

"Really? Do you _really_ think so?" She sounded teasing, and that pendulum was still in her hands, its chain curling around it.

"It isn't right to see that much all at once. It… shouldn't happen that way."

"You have to filter it a bit. Separate the important stuff from the other stuff."

"No, I don't want to know." I clung stubbornly to this one shred of morality I could still claim I possessed.

"Here, take it." She pressed the pendulum into my hand and slunk out of the kennel, looking over her shoulder, eyes flashing over her mane. The pendulum was warm, and smooth; really the ideal weight. Necklace, I should think of it that way. I sighed. Then slipped into the almost instinctive habit of polishing it with my mane. Necklace, pendulum, either way, it was mine. 'Dormi, you wonderful creature' I thought, a feeling of calm settling over me as I practiced swinging it at just the right speed.

It took me a while to wonder where Lazlo had disappeared off to, and then a while longer to feel concerned enough to go looking for him. I realized I had no real idea what Lazlo had been filling his days with, while I cycled between hazy sleep, perversity and being a test subject. I'm a bad friend, I thought dismally. The afternoon sun was casting its reddish light on the house, it made the place seem ominous, like nature itself was casting a blazing, judgmental eye on it.

Everything was eerily silent. I fastened the pendulum around my neck, hiding it in my mane. I knew Kaoru and the children would be out, but I felt a sense of deep foreboding as I opened the door and walked softly into the kitchen. I crept around to that room with its dismal tables, and Mimpi's sad drawings. It was empty. The stillness of the room had a harsh finality to it. A permanence. I sat up on the table closest the door and let the emptiness wash over me.

"They've been removed." I started. It was Traum, of course. I couldn't say anything. "Your friend too." He was goading me; for once there was even a tiny sliver of fear in his voice.

"Lazlo is gone?" I was asking myself more than him. Lazlo was gone. That couldn't be. He was a constant. I'd never spent a day in my life without the knowledge that Lazlo was around, that I could seek him out if I wanted to. He was my connection to home, to my world here.

"Yes, he's gone. They're all gone! Tranquilized, taken away. They'll be coming back for their documents too. But not us. Then we'll… we'll…" He trailed off.

"Why?"

For once he didn't try to confuse me, or dance around the truth, "There was a problem. Big one. They needed to do more intensive tests, fast, and we… the others are fresher subjects, than the Hypno at the other locations."

"They'll be coming back?"

"Not for us. Someone will be back for us. But we're not 'good subjects'." His voice dwindled away to nothing. This was serious, apparently. But we weren't going to be tested any further, how could that be bad? They'd just release us. I could find Lazlo, and we'd be able to go home.

"You're a fool." Traum's voice returned to its usual scornful tone. "You think they're just going to let us go?" He laughed harshly. "Oh it's so easy, in the mind of the little, naïve, human fucking swamp denizen. They'll just give us a pat on the back, thanks guys, pleasant travels!" He pushed me and I shoved him back reflexively. He looked up, his face showing furious anger. "They own us! What? You think we're still _individuals_? We can go wherever we want?"

"So what, what would they want with us now? We're not any good to them!"

"Not for testing their mind rape machine maybe, but there are other things they can use us for. There are terrible places we could end up, you brainless innocent!"

I was going to yell something angry and probably foolishly ignorant in response, when there was a sharp tap on the doorframe to distract us both. Dormi.

"Sorry to interrupt this macho home truths session, but the humans are home, and we might want to make a run for it sooner rather than later." Her breezy tone annoyed me. Traum glared at her

"We have to go." Traum wasn't messing around. His apparently unfeigned fear was starting to burrow into me. I followed meekly behind Traum as he wandered through the house. I could hear car doors slamming, and unfamiliar voices. Dormi grabbed my hand, intertwining her fingers in mine. "So this is it," she whispered conspiratorially "Out into the big, wild world."

I swallowed nervously, and wished she wasn't so confusingly unafraid. Traum's fear was worrying, Dormi's lack of it honestly bothered me more. And I didn't know what I should even be afraid of.

I heard the front door open, Norio's jovial voice saying something my frightened brain blurred out. Traum hurried to the back door and slid it open as silently as he could. The sun was setting. He crept forward. Dormi followed, pulling me with her. I could hear footsteps heading upstairs. My heart raced. Dormi squeezed my hand excitedly, and I hated her. We slunk around to the back side of the house, Traum looked around to where the cars were and turned back to us. "There's a lot of them. There's no cover out here, so we've got to just go, don't stop, don't change direction, we just have to keep heading away from the house. I think there's a forest about two hours walk away, and they won't find us there." He sounded like he was reassuring himself, rather than relaying a plan.

I head a door slam downstairs, and one of the humans start swearing, they'd obviously found us gone. "Just go. Run!" Traum said grimly. We fled.


End file.
